Has George Osborne got his head up his arse?

Has George Osborne got his head up his arse?

We are told that in the benefit system "Fraud and error is costing the Government and the taxpayer £5 billion a year". Of this total £3.5 billion is lost through error, and no plans have been announced to tackle the problem. Instead, the government has plans to tackle the smaller loss of £1.5 billion allegedly taken by benefit cheats. To catch these so-called benefit cheats, the plan is to hire 200 private investigators from the private sector at God only knows what cost to the taxpayers. In addition, the cost of these expensive investigations will also be met by the taxpayers. Then there will be the additional costs of putting those benefit cheats through the criminal justice system. I have a nasty feeling that all of this will far exceed the £1.5 billion which the government is attempting to save.

On the other hand, 3 members of the House of Lords have fiddled £200,000 in expenses. They must repay the money, and their only punishment will be that they will be suspended for a period from sitting in the House of Lords. The new system allows for expenses to be claimed without the need for receipts. This is an open invitation to carry on fiddling.

Why is the government intent on attacking the poorer people in society whilst protecting the better off? It has to be said that if the government was really interested in saving taxpayers money, shouldn't the government be concentrating on the loss of taxpayers money by expenses fiddlers in both Houses of Parliament?